The Legend of Mantia: Part Three, Armageddon
by Anguirus111
Summary: Its curtains for the Lylat System and Mantia returns to make sure it does. (Final Chapter uploaded)
1. He's back

Anguirus111 note: I haven't written anything for a while so I'm just a little bit rusty with writing again.  For those unfamiliar with my work just look back a few pages which include the first two parts of the Mantia Trilogy.  Oh, by the way.  I'm not finishing my story about the X-1 Virus because of the Anthrax Scare.

150 Years after The Lylat Wars: Food Crops mysteriously began to die.  First cases of radiation sickness were reported.  A government investigation finds that the destruction of Sector Z had spread harmful Verteron Particles over the entire Lylat System.  Panic erupts as food sources began to dwindle.  The body of Mantia, still being pushed through the universe by the inertia of Sector Z's destruction kept traveling.

250 years after The Lylat Wars: A system wide war erupts as the remaining survivors of the Lylat System fight for supplies.  The Cornerian Defense Force is overwhelmed during the battle.  Current Star Fox team disbands over disagreement about which faction to side with.  Great Fox X-7 is abandoned and stripped for parts by scavengers.  Mantia continued to float through space kept barely alive by the electric shock weapon that was pushed against its heart causing it to keep beating.

315 years after The Lylat Wars: The war ends with a treaty established above Solar, which divides the system evenly.  Throughout the war, Corneria and Katina had been turned into total wastelands, Fortuna plunged into eternal snowy bleakness, and the oceans of Zoness had caught fire and continued to burn through the years.  The heat produced by Zoness caused the oceans to recede on Aquas allowing it to be inhabitable.  Despite the treaty, skirmishes still occurred over territory disputes and by rogue factions who never agreed to the treaty.  Mantia still floated along.

497 years after the Lylat Wars: In an attempt to revitalize the Lylat System's population, a cloning experiment is conducted on a piece of DNA.  The experiment was a success but when the Cloning Pod opened, the occupant was none other than the warlord who had attempted to conquer the Lylat System once again: Andross.  The experiment was about to be terminated when a terrorist bomb exploded from a rogue faction seeking to maintain the current political instability.  Andross escaped in the ensuing panic and proceeded to amass a battle fleet composed of several rogue factions.  Andross then proceeded to declare war and attempt to reclaim the Lylat System.  Several billion light years away an alien spaceship discovered the floating body of Mantia.  The aliens brought in the body and repaired its physical form and restored its ability to shoot electricity through its tail.  They also gave it the ability to shoot an energy beam from its mouth and still had the laser cannons on its wings.  The aliens encased it in an asteroid and shot it off on a return journey to Corneria on a much faster return rate.

500 years after the Lylat System: The factions of the Lylat System united and managed to push back Andross to the barren planet of Corneria.  They then proceeded to chase Andross into his old underground lab of Pacific Pharmaceuticals.  Upon entry they saw a clone of Mantia which was 1/3 the size of the original Mantia.  Acting quickly they destroyed Mantia and killed Andross.  The factions then returned to their own part of the Lylat System still at odds with each other.

Now, 3 months later, Corneria: Jason McCloud, the current descendant of Fox McCloud scavenged through some waste bins outside of Corneria City.  Corneria City was surrounded by an impenetrable energy wall and within lived the faction called the Alphas.  The Alphas were the most prosperous of all Lylat's factions and they lived in seclusion.  The only idea of what was going on in there was through the garbage they disposed of throughout the barren desert land.  Jason was searching for some power cells for his custom fighter that he had built from other scavenged parts.  Throughout the area were dozens of scavengers looking for food or mechanical pieces.  Jason sought on a large chunk of garbage and sighed.  He wondered what it was like before the war so long ago.  He thought back to the times of his ancient ancestors and wondered about the adventures they had had.  Jason then took out a ration and munched on it thoughtfully.  He looked out at Corneria City and the white energy dome.  Inside the dome were several brilliant buildings owned by the Alphas.  Jason noticed the scavengers start hurrying off toward a Garbage Scow that had begun unloading garbage.  Jason groaned and ran after the scavengers.

Outer Rim of the Lylat System: A large asteroid zoomed past Venom and continued on toward an impact with Corneria.

Corneria: Jason finally obtained the power cells he needed.  While the Alphas had used them up, Jason had developed a technique to use the energy waste left behind to power his fighter.  Jason whipped out his laser gun and fired at the scavenger's feet that were attempting to take his newly acquired possession.  Just as it seemed they would rob him of his power cells a loud noise was heard.  Looking up, Jason and the scavengers watched as a large meteor streaked overhead and crashed a couple of miles away.  Instantly a loud roar was heard as a large Manta Ray emerged and hovered into the air.  The scavengers screamed and scattered as the Manta Ray cleared its head of the cobwebs and glanced at its surroundings.

            "No, it can't be," said Jason as he fumbled in his pockets for something.  An instant later he yanked out a discolored photo of a large Manta Ray.  The photo had been an heirloom throughout his family's history.  On the back was a written description that Jason read aloud.

            "Beware Mantia for he is the worst of all of Lylat's creatures.  Created primarily for destruction, if it ever returns, it will be unstoppable and it will conquer the Lylat System of this I can assure you.  James McCloud," said Jason.  Mantia finally spotted Corneria City.

            "Your day has ended Corneria City!  I will no longer allow you to exist as long as I do!" Mantia yelled.  Jason watched as Mantia launched itself at the energy dome.  Mantia opened its mouth and a colorful energy beam emerged and shorted out the dome.  Mantia then plowed into the city and smashed through several buildings. Jason watched as the peaceful Alphas scattered through the streets in horror.  Jason watched as several laser cannons popped out of the ground and opened fire.  Mantia took the blasts with only a shrug and fired its wing lasers at the cannons obliterating them.

            "Weapon X-1 could never defeat me even when it worked at its full capacity!  You can never defeat me!" yelled Mantia.  Mantia blasted through several more buildings and watched as several escape ships launched from the surface.  Mantia then streaked after them.

            "You can't escape that easily," said Mantia.  Mantia streaked after the retreating ships.  Mantia knocked all of them out of the sky except for one.

            "Go and tell them everything.  I, Mantia have returned to reclaim the Lylat System once and for all!" yelled Mantia who started laughing.  Mantia spun around and eyed Jason McCloud who had begun trembling.

            "Your ancestors couldn't defeat me and you won't either!  I cannot be destroyed and I cannot be harmed.  You have only one choice.  Fear the wrath of Mantia!" it yelled as it zoomed away into space and the rest of the Lylat System.

            "Our darkest fears have come true.  A creature that will destroy Lylat System with its bare wings," said Jason just as he passed out.


	2. The two most deadlies forces in the Lyla...

I've decided to completely rewrite this entire story and with the exception of the first chapter, everything else will be changed although occasional events and dialogue will be the same.  There's some mild cursing in this version of the story so watch out.

Mantia burst free of Corneria and flew off into outer space.  Many things had changed since it had last invaded the Lylat System and it wondered where to start.  Mantia decided to first 'obtain' some helpers.  Mantia then leapt into warp headed for a once known warp junction stop for large bulk freighters.

Corneria: Jason awoke to see the smoking remains of Alpha City.  Jason just stared in shock at the destruction.  He also noticed that the rest of the scavengers had fled but he still had his hands on the powercells.  Jason stood up, brushed himself off and headed for his fighter.  Jason trudged through several tons of rubble before seeing an odd mountain of steel shutters.  Jake pushed the shutters off and it revealed his fighter underneath.  Jason attached the used powercells and entered into the cockpit.  He closed the cockpit of his modified Arwing and activated the systems.  Next to the front targeting display was a picture of him and his parents before a roving gang of pirates killed them, Jason just ignored the photo and turned on the main engine.  The engine ignited and burned the trash behind him.  Jason then pulled back on the stick and the fighter took to the sky.  The Arwing had three pairs of wings, one on top of the other.  While the top and bottom pair thrust backwards, either in all-range mode or cruising mode, the middle pair was adjusted so that the wings jutted forward.  The middle wings could also enter cruising mode or all-range mode it was merely the opposite of the other wings.  The fighter also contained an advanced scanning system, four hyper laser cannons, and two smart bomb launchers as well as a state-of-the art engine and G-Diffuser.  Jake then slammed on the engines and adjusted the wings to cruising mode so the ship leapt into mach speed.  Jake exited the planet and entered warp headed towards his faction on Katina.

Freighter Tyrago: The massive bulk freighter was exiting warp headed towards a brief transit point between Solar and the second sun of Zoness before heading on to Corneria with a shipment for the Alphas.  The ship exited warp and was altering its trajectory when suddenly Mantia leapt from warp.

"Get us out of here!" exclaimed Capt. Cook.  Mantia zoomed past the ship and fired its electric tail cannon at the ship causing its systems to short out.

"Apparently we're at it's mercy," observed Greg.  Mantia appeared on the main viewscreen.

"I haven't shorted out all of your systems.  Open your bay and prepare to receive your new boss," said Mantia.

"Sir?" Porpoise asked.

"Open it," said Cook.  The bay opened and Mantia flew in and landed.  Cook, Porpoise, and Greg entered into the bay and stared at the gigantic Manta Ray.

"What do you want with this ship?" demanded Cook.

"Want?  I don't want anything.  You and your ship are now under my control.  If you resist I'll destroy this ship and find a less resistant crew.  If you obey me, you might survive this fiasco," said Mantia.  Greg, Porpoise, and Cook conferred for a few moments.

"What will the Alphas do when they don't receive this cargo?" asked Cook.  Mantia balked at him.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about the Alphas anymore because I just eradicated their entire population.  Believe me, your supplies will be the least of their worries," said Mantia.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Porpoise.

"First we'll fly to the surface of Zoness.  I'm certain your ship will survive the temperatures.  I'll tell you what we're to do next once we get there," said Mantia.  Cook nodded knowing that he had his crew to worry about.

"I'll make the arrangements," he said finally.

"Excellent," responded Mantia.  Cook left the bay wondering how he was going to tell the rest of the crew the news before they found out through rumors.

Katina: Jason's fighter emerged from warp and zoomed down to the planet's surface.

"Access code," said a mechanized voice over the comm.

"Jason, J210354," said Jason.

"Authorizing.  Voice, code, and fighter identification confirmed.  Welcome home Jason," said the computer.

"Yeah, yeah," said Jason.  Jason watched as one of the orbiting umbras blasted a nearby ship into dust.

"Mess with the best, die like the rest," said Jason.  His fighter zoomed into the atmosphere and burst through some clouds over the planets surface.  Below him, he saw a small attachment of Landmaster's performing target practice.

"They're not scheduled for practice today.  That's odd," said Jason.  Jason then saw the old Katina base where the current remains of the CDF were located.  The mothership that had crashed behind the base had long since been taken apart for supplies during the great war a couple hundred years ago.  Jason then flew into a fighter bay and landed amid an assortment of various other fighters.  Everywhere mechanics were bustling about repairing and performing maintenance to the fighters.  Jason exited his fighter and hopped down to the ground.  He watched curiously at the increase in activity when the main engineer Cookie, an otter approached him with a checklist.

"Howdy Jason.  Did you find those cells?" he asked.

"Yeah I did and I got you something too," said Jake holding up a large piece of metal which Cookie readily accepted "What's with all the activity?"

"We don't know.  Word from above is that we're to prep all fighters and make sure they're combat-ready and able to launch at a moments notice.  Tobias and his generals want to see you up in the main viewing chamber immediately," he said.  Jason shrugged and took off to an elevator.  Jason took the elevator to the top level and emerged into a large room filled with windows and sunlight came in from the rising dawn.  In the center of the room was a large table where Tobias and his generals sat watching a viewscreen of a massive space battle.

"What's up?" Jason asked.  He looked to see a massive battlecruiser explode and dozens of fighters sweep in and take its place.

"The dam burst," responded Tobias.  Jason suddenly realized what the screen was showing.

"Oh shit," he said.  For the past several weeks, the Crimson Elite had been placing its forces on the border with the Nuclear Knights above Titania in a show of dominance.  The Knights responded by placing their own forces above Titania.  The two factions were unwilling to break down and call it off and so they'd stayed that way for the past several weeks.

"What set them off?" asked Jason.  He grabbed a cup of water and started sipping it.

"Believe it or not, but reports indicate that the Razor's Pride did.  One of their robotic sentries entered the zone with each side painted to show the opposites enemy.  The ship angled it self so the opposing sides would see what they wanted to see and exploded.  The two factions declared war a half hour ago," said General Powell.

"So the great pacifist Jake Whitacre showed his true colors.  I also knew that 'we should be at peace' was only a charade," said Jason.

"Yeah well you know as well as we do that these are the two most powerful factions in the Lylat System.  Although we all agreed to stay out of each others business, this could still have repercussions for the winner might feel they're invincible and try and conquer the rest of the system," said Tobias.

"True.  So that's why the ship are being prepped and the Landmasters are honing their skills," said Jason.

"Right.  We've been preparing for the worst and we can't hope for anything," said Powell.

"What about the Skull Riderz?  This battle is practically on their front doorstep," said Tobias.

"Unknown.  We've only detected a slight increase in the amount of fighters they've put into the air.  I guess they could merely just attack with copperheads but who knows?  I don't understand their lack of response," said Powell.

"And the Razor's Pride?" asked Tobias.  Powell was about to answer when Jason cut him off.

"I hate to make matters worse, but the Alphas have been eliminated," he said.  Everyone stopped talking and turned to face him while on the screen behind them, another battlecruiser exploded.

"How?  The Alphas are the only faction who can't be wiped out," said Tobias.

"Check your satellite images, they have," responded Jason.  Tobias punched a few buttons on the keyboard in front of him and the space battle was minimized to show the smoking remain of Corneria City.  Dozens of gasps emerged from the generals.

"How?" Tobias asked weakly.

"Pull back the image," said Jason.  The image zoomed backwards to reveal a message etched in the ground by laser fire.  The message read: HERE LIES THE FIRST STEPPING STONE TO MANTIA'S DOMINANCE OF THE LYLAT SYSTEM!  The smoking remains of Corneria City formed the dot on the exclamation point.  (To give an approximate idea of the size, Corneria City's dome's diameter was sixty miles wide although most of it was the remains of buildings that even the Alphas didn't use).

"Mantia," said Tobias.

"I hope that you, who claim to be a descendant of General Pepper knows what that is," said Jason.  Tobias looked up at him.

"Of course I know who that is!  It's the scourge of the skies that attempted to annihilate the Lylat System no less than two times!  Mantia was a destructive force that had never been seen before in the annals of history!  If Sector Z hadn't been destroyed, we'd all have suffered his wrath.  If he's returned then we're all in trouble!" exclaimed Tobias.

"Right but somehow it has returned and we'd better come up with a plan to defend ourselves or else we're in deep shit," said Jason.

"What to do what to do what to do," said Tobias.

"I think we'll have to confer on this," said Powell.

"Right well I'll try and lend a hand down in the bay," said Jason leaving.

Zoness: The freighter emerged from warp with large explosions in the far background.  Suddenly four Razor's Pride fighters appeared and opened fire on the helpless cruiser.

"We can't defend ourselves against this, we're only a merchant ship," said Cook.  Mantia appeared over the screen.

"I'll deal with this threat.  You just head for the surface of Zoness.  If you attempt to enter warp, I'll destroy you," said Mantia flying off and out of the bay.  The four fighters were unsure what to do, but they opened fire on Mantia anyway.

"You fools, even the destruction of an entire nebula couldn't defeat me.  What advantage do you have?" asked Mantia.  Mantia's two wing laser cannons emerged and opened fire on the fighters.  One of them blew up and the other fighters resumed attacking with fiercer intensity.  A fighter launch a smart bomb at Mantia's underside, but it exploded harmlessly against its tough skin.  Mantia then slammed through another fighter and the remaining two were victims of its electric tail weapon.  The two fighters lazily began their descent towards their inevitable doom on Zoness.  Mantia then rendezvoused with the freighter and the two plunged towards Zoness surface.  They flew over several pieces of wreckage strewn about and finally landed on a lone island not entirely claimed by the fires.  Mantia hovered above the freighter looking around at the burning waters of Zoness.

"What now?" Greg asked.

"We wait I guess," responded Cook.  Mantia waited a few more minutes before letting out a bone-curdling roar that shook the ship.  Everyone on board the freighter covered their ears as Mantia roared for about five minutes and then stopped.  Mantia and the crew waited for another half-hour before the water in front of the island started bubbling.  A massive claw burst from the sea and a gigantic crab reared itself out of the water and stepped onto the island.  The crab had been steaming and had several welt marks but for the most part was okay.  The crab took a look at Mantia who merely thrust its wing at the open bay.  The crab scurried aboard and sat down as the bay closed shut.  Mantia then projected itself onto the viewscreen.

"We're leaving," it said.

"Where?" asked Cook.  Mantia looked out at the skies above and the small explosions dotting the background.  Mantia scanned its memories for someplace safe that would provide them with the resources necessary.  Mantia finally decided where to go.

"We're going to Macbeth's sixth moon," it said.  Cook cleared his throat.

"Not to sound disrespectful, but that area is under Skull Riderz jurisdiction and we're not allowed to go there," responded Cook.  Mantia growled.

"I'll destroy every ship in the entire Lylat System if it stops me from reaching that moon.  I'll find a way to sneak your ship in through their radars and defense systems," said Mantia.

"Fine, but if this blows up in your face, I'm not risking my crew.  Don't forget that if this ship blows up, so does your crab," said Cook.

"I am aware of that foolish creature.  Besides, you've followed my order this far I don't want to loose such valuable assets," said Mantia taking to the sky.

"Take us out of here," said Cook sighing.  (Cook's a gorilla, Porpoise is a porpoise, and Greg's a donkey with shades.  You can decide yourself if you want them to be related to Greg and Porpoise of my previous fic, The Second Plague Cometh).  Mantia and the freighter escaped Zoness and leapt into light speed.

The battle: Hundreds of fighters and dozens of cruiser opened fire on each other above Titania as each side tried to press forward.  Captain Snow led his wave of fighters on a bombing run over several Crimson Elite battlecruisers.

"Ha, ha, ha.  Run and tremble for you can't win this war," said Snow.  A large explosion occurred nearby and blew up a third of his fighter wave.

"Give it up Snow," said Stronghold.

"Ah my old nemesis it's good to see that you've finally tapped into our comm. system," said Snow.

"I've known about this system for a long time and I know every one of your plans," said Stronghold.

"I don't think so," said Snow signing off.  Snow led his fighters against a wave of Crimson Elite ships.  His fighters resumed their attack and blew up some of them.  Behind Snow, one of his own warships exploded.

"Intel, stats," said Snow.  A fighter flew into flanking position with him.

"Current projections indicate 25 cruisers each, 120 fighters ours, 115 theirs," said Intel.

"We're evenly matched and ready for action," said Snow diving into the thick of battle.

Zeram-Class lead warship CE: Lord Stronghold stood on the bridge of his fearsome black battleship as it opened fire on the enemy.  A lone enemy fighter streaked across its bow firing but was promptly blown up by one of the warships cannons.

"We're not making any progress are we?" asked Stronghold sighing.

"No sir," responded a glum technician.  Stronghold looked out at the war raging around him.

"Transmit something encouraging to our soldiers because I don't feel very festive right now," said Stronghold twiddling his fingers.  Another pair of fighters opened fire on the cruiser and managed to escape the cannon fire.

"Shields at 68%," said a technician.

"Tell the men to prepare for a long haul," said Stronghold.  Everyone either groaned or sighed because a long haul meant that the war would continue for a lot longer than just a few hours.  More ship opened fire on each other.

"Move ships 17 and 18 forward and assign fighter groups 13 through 15 to provide them some cover.  If we can punch through their defenses and then they attempt to make a run for Titania then Snow will have to divert some of his forces to intercept them.  On second thought, move the whole fleet forward!  If we're going out, it's going to be with a bang!" exclaimed Stronghold rubbing his hands together.  The crew looked at each other nervously as they issued the command.

Snow's squad: "Sensors indicate that the Crimson Elite is moving their entire fleet forward," said Intel.  Snow watched as the distance between the fleets grew smaller and smaller.

"Stronghold has made his last mistake.  Close up the fleet and forward ho!" exclaimed Snow pushing down on his ships accelerator.  A dozen other fighter squads joined his and together they spearheaded the Nuclear Knights fleet.

Katina: Jason looked up from a fighter he was working on to see the gigantic screen in the bay show the two fleets flying towards each other.

"This is it," said Cookie.  Jason dove back to work on the fighter desperately trying to get it ready as quickly as he could.

Battle: The fleets finally merged and the large warships opened fire on each other.  Dozens of ships blew up on each side yet neither was willing to give up.

"Launch all reserve fighters," said Stronghold.

"Sir we have no reserve fighters," said a technician.  Stronghold watched in horror as the tally of ships started dropping with no end in sight.

"Sir, if we don't evacuate now we'll all be dead," said a general for the Knights.

"I don't care.  The Elite are doomed keep firing," said Snow.  More cruisers exploded and dozens of fighters slammed into each other.  Since the battle was directly ahead of each fleet, none of them bothered to check their rears.  Six copperhead missiles emerged from warp behind the fleets and headed towards their pre-assigned targets.  The missiles found their marks and began to bore in.

"Sir, the nuclear missile carrier reports that it's under attack," said a general.

"How?  That ship was supposed to heavily armored and camouflaged, it wasn't supposed to be a viable target.  What's going on?" demanded Snow.  On the other side of the battle it was the same way.

"Sir, our main munitions ship is being attacked," said a general.

"It's gonna blow!" exclaimed technicians from both factions.

"Scatter!" yelled Stronghold and Snow.  The ships and fighters all scattered in different directions as the opposing munitions ships blew up causing a massive explosion.  The nuclear ship exploded causing a huge thermonuclear explosion to envelop most of the fleets and blow them up.  Stronghold was left with five ships and sixteen fighters while Snow was left with twelve ships and twelve fighters.

"Sir shall we press our advantage?" asked a technician.

"No, we'll come back later and wipe them out once and for all," said Stronghold.

"Run you cowards!" exclaimed Snow over the comm. system.  However Snow knew he couldn't hold up against his boast and both fleets abandoned their fight for now.

Macbeth: Banquo watched from the balcony of his castle as the large explosion filled the nights sky after the nights last firework had gone off.

"Aaah.  How spectacular.  This made staying up the whole night worth it," he said.  Banquo reached for his mobile phone and flipped it on.  He punched in a number and the phone rang.

"Sir?" asked the person on the other line.

"I appreciated tonight's light show.  I don't know what it was, but it just screamed excitement.  Thanks and make tomorrow an official holiday over our latest military blow to our surrounding factions.  Business's will be closed and school will be canceled," said Banquo.

"Yes sir.  You're welcome sir.  It will be done sir," said his leading general on the other line hanging up.  Banquo watched the fading light of the explosion before turning in for the night.

Katina: "There goes the neighborhood!" someone exclaimed.  Jason popped out of another fighter and saw the massive explosion claim the opposing ships on the screen.

"Yikes," he said.  Everyone watched in horror as most of the opposing ships blew up.  The remaining ships each turned away to their opposing territory.  Tobias appeared on the main screen.

"As you've just seen, a massive nuclear explosion occurred near Titania.  While the radiation won't affect us, it will affect Titania and Macbeth.  This clearly means that Banquo does not care for his own people's safety and only for his personal claim in this system because he was the cause of that explosion.  Both sides of the conflict have retreated deep into their territories and they have vowed to continue this battle until the other side has admitted defeat.  I also have the bad news of confirming that Mantia has indeed returned to the Lylat System.  We received surveillance photos from Zoness that show the creature battling it out with four Skull Riderz fighter craft and protecting a bulk freighter.  The freighter and Mantia left Zoness for parts unknown.  We'll continue to update you on the current situation in the Lylat System.  For now continue practicing and reviewing your wartime guidelines.  Make sure you know where to go in the event that Katina does fall under attack by enemy forces.  I wish you all the best of luck during the following weeks.  Tobias out," said Tobias.  The image then shut off to show the CDF logo.  Jason hopped out of the fighter he was working on and walked over to Cookie who was holding a ships roster.

"Ship 35 is prepped and ready for battle," said Jason.  Cookie looked up and nodded.

"Jason, some fighters are prepping for takeoff and I think it would be in your best interest to go and maneuver with them.  I know you have your own squadron and you're the best of the best, but a little refresher course can't hurt," said Cookie.  Jason just smiled at him.

"All right Cookie for your sake," said Jason.  Jason walked off to his fighter and flicked on several switches.  His engine turned on and he looked down at the photo of him with his parents.  Jason remembered the brief pep talk his dad had given him about Mantia.

"Son, there's something I need to show you," said his father.  Jason, who was seven at the time walked with his father to a secluded area of his fueling station.  Jason's father, Jack, flipped on a switch in a room that he'd never been in and a large room devoted to the bio-weapon was seen.  Jason walked over to a figurine and picked it up and zoomed it through the air.

"You're very perceptive.  Jason, I need you to stop your games and listen to me seriously for a moment," said Jack.  Jason sat down in front of a large television screen.

"What I'm about to show you is very troubling for someone your age, but you've got to see it for all our sakes," said Jack.  Jack turned on the television and pressed play.  Dozens of images and footage came up about Mantia.  Scenes were shown of it demolishing various buildings and fighting with the Star Fox team.  A brief segment showed the bio-weapon war on Corneria during Mantia's second attack on Corneria.  Jason watched stunned at these images before his dad shut the television off.

"Jason, its name is Mantia and it's the scourge of the skies.  It was created by a bad monkey scientist named Andross less than half a millennia ago and was designed to conquer the Lylat System and eradicate all life if it came to it.  Jason, if this creature ever shows up again, you've got to destroy it and make sure it never conquers the Lylat System.  This matters above all else, even your own life.  Do you understand that," said his father.  Jason nodded out of fear.

"Good, now how about some playing some ball," said his father.  Jason nodded and eagerly ran for the doorway when he tripped over a podium.  An empty canister landed next to him.  Jason picked it up and stared at it.

"X-7," said Jason reading it as best as he could.  Jack picked it up.

"I'll tell you about that one later," said his father.  However Jack never got around to it and he and his mother died a little less than eight years ago.  Jason wiped away his tears and slammed on the engines.  His ship took off out of the bay.  Jason looked around for a few moments when suddenly the entire squad was surrounding him in moments.

"Greeting Commander McCloud.  This is John Grey of the CDF Husky and Bulldog units.  I welcome you to our training session," said Johnny.  His squads leapt forward and coasted for an area known to all pilots as Devils Corner.  Devils Corner was a place where only the most experienced pilots flew because it was a canyon littered with obstructions.  The squads were on it in moments.

"We'll go through it at a leisurely full speed.  Single file, I'll go first, Jason second, and the rest of you know your order," said John.  John slammed on his engines and his fighter leapt into the canyon.  Jason waited for a few seconds before slamming on his engines as well.  Jason took the first few corners with ease, but twisted hard to avoid all the remaining obstructions.  Jason slammed the wings into cruising mode for the extra burst of speed and slammed on the engines.  Within moments he'd caught up to John who was twisting through several more obstructions and zipped into a canyon followed by a large tunnel.  The two fighters zoomed through neck and neck and emerged dead even.

"You did good Jason, but let's see how well she can open up," said John.  John slammed on the afterburners and blasted off followed by Jason.  The two fighters finally made it to Katina base with John barely in the lead.  The two fighters landed in the bay well ahead of the other ships and the two pilots got out and shook hands.

"How about a drink?" Jason asked.

"Sure," responded John.  Together the two pilots left for the lounge.

Macbeth: Dozens of celebrations erupted as the citizens celebrated their offensive against the enemy.  Although the armed forces were still at work, many of them were drunk.  None of them noticed a blip exit warp and immediately disappear near Macbeth.  Above Macbeth, the Tyrago emerged from light speed along with Mantia.  Mantia quickly covered the ship as best as it could with its body.  The freighter zoomed onward towards Macbeth's sixth moon.

"Just keep moving and don't slow down," said Mantia.  The freighter moved past the umbras above the moon's atmosphere and plunged towards its surface.  As soon as the reached a safe position, Mantia let go and flew alongside the freighter.  The soon flew above Macduff.

"I could've sworn that mountain was higher," said Mantia.

"Maybe it was, but records were lost during the war and no one today knows," said Cook over the comm. having gotten used to Mantia's command.

"Our destination is the mountain Siward.  It's just beyond that small range over there called Little Siward," said Mantia blazing forward.  The freighter and Mantia reached the mountain and Mantia scanned it.  He then flew to a spot halfway up the mountain located beneath an abandoned monastery and spoke to the mountain.

"Mantia01 execute," said Mantia.  A portion of the mountain pulled away to reveal a secret tunnel.  Mantia flew forward accompanied by the freighter.  The mountain closed behind them and they flew for a few miles before emerging in a gigantic bay area.  Everywhere were tunnels leading to various places and some stair led to a control room high above overlooking the bay.  The freighter landed and the crew emerged.

"Where'd you learn of this place?" asked Cook.  Mantia landed as well.

"Andross had the base constructed a long time ago in case something were to happen to his original base on Venom.  He constructed another one on Macduff but from the looks of things it exploded.  I learned of these bases from files I assimilated during my second coming," said Mantia.

"Why the monastery?" Greg asked.  Mantia shrugged.

"I guess Andross always had a place in his heart for monks," said Mantia.

"So what now?" asked Cook.

"Spread out and try and locate a sort of floor plan for this base.  I'll expect you back in an hour," said Mantia.  The crew spread out as Mantia glanced at the various battlecruisers.  However before they could get anywhere, a main viewscreen activated above them.  A.I.ndrew appeared.

"Greetings fellow Venomians.  My name is A.I.ndrew and I'm your guide to this place.  The bottom levels contain cryo pods that have members of the Venomian army in them.  The middle levels contain living quarters, restaurants, and other of life's necessities.  The upper levels include the bay, and the control room located above you.  The top level reaches into the underside of the monastery.  I know that you got in here legally or else this place would blow up so here's a treat for remaining loyal.  Now ahead of you, there is a hidden panel and a pad next to it.  Press 781435A on it and wait.  The panel should move back and inside is your ticket to conquering the Lylat System," said the hologram.  Cook pressed in the corresponding buttons and the panel moved back to reveal several canisters of a white powdery substance.

"I brought that here after I moved into the Red Hammer's base on Macduff.  Farewell and good luck," said A.I.ndrew.  The screen shut off.  Cook slid a canister out of its holding spot and another moved forward to take its place like a vending machine.  Cook read the canister's contents.

"Well?" asked Mantia.  Cook looked at him.

"It reads Viral Weapon X-7," said Cook confused.  Mantia blinked a few times and laughed out loud.

"Finally I have the tools to conquer the Lylat System once and for all.  With Viral Weapon X-7 I will truly be invincible!" laughed the bio-weapon.  Then it roared defiance at the heavens to try and stop what it was planning to do.

"Nothing can stop us now.  Welcome Mantia," exclaimed the bio-weapon as it continued to laugh.


	3. The traps are laid

By the way, this is the final story of the Mantia saga.  Here's a factional fact sheet.  Also, the species of the leader does not mean that everyone in that faction is that specific species.  The Razor's Pride consists of several species, not all of which are red wolves.

Jake Whitacre: Leader of Razor's Pride.  Currently resides in a biosphere on Aquas.  Species: Red Wolf.

Lord Stronghold: Leader of Crimson Elite.  Currently resides on Venom.  Species: Tiger. Banquo: Leader of Skull Riderz.  Currently resides on Macbeth.  Species: Lizard

Captain Snow: Leader of Nuclear Knights.  Currently resides on Fortuna, also owns Titania but is uninhabited due to an ancient defense system that prevents most transports from entering into the planet's atmosphere.  Species: Snow Eagle.

Exalted Valorum: Leader of the Alphas.  Escaped the destruction of the city on the only ship not destroyed by Mantia.  Current whereabouts: unknown.  Species: Peregrine Falcon.

Tobias Airbas: Leader of the descendants of what was left of the Cornerian defense force.  Currently resides on Katina.  Rumored to be a descendant of Gen. Pepper.  Species: ferret.

"Forgive me oh great one but what is Viral Weapon X-7?" asked Cook.  Mantia glanced at him.

"To start off you might want to put that canister back and close that door," responded the bio-weapon.  Cook placed the canister back and closed the panel.

"Viral Weapon X-7 is something that even I never dreamed of actually possessing.  It's a genetically engineered plague that wipes out everything it comes in contact with.  Andross learned about the virus when it was being designed and intended to get his hands on it.  He sent all the information he obtained on the virus to his old lab outside of Corneria City and I learned about it when I returned to try and conquer the Lylat System.  The virus was designed by the Cornerian military as a last resort against my creator and his minions.  The virus was never used and all I learned was that it wiped out a prison colony's population on Venom.  Other than that the virus was a mystery to me," said Mantia truthfully.  The gigantic crab exited the ship and walked out to Mantia and his group.

"What now?" Porpoise asked.  Mantia turned around and fired at the crab's rear left leg.  A large multifaceted rod emerged from the crab's wound and slammed to the bay's floor.  A pair of robots emerged from a hallway and cleaned up the blood on the ground and another pair picked up the rod and carted it away.

"What was that?" asked Greg.

"That was a computer core that can operate this place.  It also contains historical records of the Lylat System that you might find interesting.  Now I need your assistance.  I'm too large to enter into this facility, but you can.  I need you to deactivate the cryo pods at the bottom of the facility and instruct the occupants to come up here," said Mantia.

"What'll become of us?" asked Greg.

"Yeah are we to be abandoned?" asked Cook.  Mantia laughed.

"You've been the most loyal subjects a leader could receive.  You may choose your fate.  If you leave I'll accept that and your loyalty won't be forgotten.  However, should you inform someone about where I am I'd be greatly disappointed.  Should you stay with me, you will be the leaders of your own planets with your own subjects.  You can choose to do what it is that you wish.  Should this campaign end in disaster I won't mention your help and if they know, I'll say I forced you to help me," said Mantia.

"What'll you do if you succeed?" asked Greg.  Mantia shrugged.

"My mission will have been completed and I'll leave this system and fly off forever to roam for the rest of my life and decide what to do with it," said Mantia.

"We'll briefly discuss it with our crew," said Cook.  The three of them left to confer with the other twelve members of their crew.  After a few minutes of deliberations they decided their answer.

"We'll stay and help you until the end," said Cook.

"And for that I thank you.  We are now equals and we all decide what to do with this system.  My decisions alone couldn't conquer this system because I don't know it as well as you people do.  Together we'll form our own council of war and together we'll conquer the Lylat System and rule it forever!" yelled Mantia.  The entire crew roared in agreement and went to work.

Katina, 3 months later: "Here are the three problems we face men.  First, Mantia has returned and is going to attempt to conquer the Lylat System.  Second, The Crimson Elite and the Nuclear Knights are still quarreling over their territory dispute.  Third, all of this is occurring on the other side of the system and we can't do a damn thing about it," said Tobias talking to his generals, Jason, and John

"What's our capital ship situation?" asked Powell.

"We're looking at fifteen capital ships with several more in construction.  We also have substantial ground based defenses so we should be okay for now," said Tobias.

"What've the Razor's Pride been doing during all this time?" asked another general.

"All we know is that two months ago they claimed to be leading a campaign to eradicate all pirate groups.  Other than that, they've kept to themselves," said Tobias.

"Something's going on over there and it isn't good," said the admiral.

"Yeah well we'll decide what to do about that later.  Dismissed," said Tobias.  Everyone left except Jason.

"What's up?" asked Tobias.  Jason swallowed hard.

"_Here goes,_" he thought.

"Sir I've noticed that moral is lacking lately," began Jason.

"Yeah so?  I think we'll be fine without it," said Tobias.

"We need something to rally behind.  We need something that demonstrates greatness that the men can believe in," said Jason.

"You have an idea?" asked Tobias.

"Yes sir.  With your permission I want to organize a new Star Fox team with myself and three other elite pilots as part of it," said Jason.  Tobias sighed and sat down.

"Where would you find these elite pilots because I can't relinquish any of our existing pilots," said Tobias.

"I'll find them somewhere.  They'll be strictly non-factional and willing to work for money.  I'll pay them at first and together we'll form the most elite squad this system has ever seen since the days of the war," said Jason.  Tobias looked out one of the windows.

"I suppose that if I say no you'll go anyway," he said.

"Yes sir," responded Jason.  Tobias turned to face him.

"Go and make your arrangements.  We'll provide you with some money supplies, but the rest is up to you," said Tobias.  Jason nodded.

"Thanks sir," said Jason.

"We need the Star Fox team to rally behind and go against Mantia, you may be our only hope," said Tobias.  Jason nodded and left.  Tobias watched as his fighter blasted out of the bay and into the sunrise.  Tobias then turned to read more dossiers.

Siward: A large table was in the middle of the bay and Mantia sat at the head while the other crewmembers of the Tyrago sat around the table.  Everywhere around them was bustling activity.  The Venomians recovered from cryo had been busy at work restoring the place to working order.  Dozens of mechanics worked on the various fighters and warships around them.

"I call this meeting of the council of war to order," Cook said.

"My friend, it's time we made our move," said Mantia.

"We've also reached the same conclusion.  With X-7 at our disposal as well as this war fleet, we'll be invincible," said Porpoise.

"Don't forget that we could create more bio-weapons," added Mantia.

"Yes but we must decide what to target and where," said Greg.

"Agreed and I propose that we instigate the Crimson Elite and Nuclear Knights into more skirmishes," said Cook.

"I don't really think they need to be given any more reason to destroy each other.  How about dragging in the CDF in on this one," said a crewmember.

"No they're too smart.  They'd only tell the factions what we're doing," said Mantia.

"How about the Skull Riderz?" someone else asked.  Mantia shook its body.

"No, no.  If the Skull Riderz fall this early in the operation, they'd be easy pickings for the other factions and we'd be destroyed as well.  No, I think that the Razor's Pride would be more susceptible to prodding," the bio-weapon said.

"I think you're right Mantia.  If we capture a few vessels from the Elite and the Knights and fill them with our troops and X-7, we'll convince the Pride that the other two factions have formed an alliance against them.  The Pride will strengthen themselves and when all three fight they'll wipe each other out," said Cook.

"I like this plan," said Greg.

"As do I but I'd like to make one change to it.  I'll lead a contingency of various other fighters and attack the CDF at the same time.  That way they'll think that I've singled them out for destruction.  Eventually all four factions will face each other and when they wipe each other out we'll eradicate the Skull Riderz army and then we'll have supreme control over the entire system!" exclaimed Mantia.

"Agreed.  So we'll go forth with both plans.  All in favor say aye," said Cook.  A massive aye emerged from the council.

"Then what are we waiting for, time's a wasting," said Mantia.  The council split to organize various tasks.

Remains of Meteo asteroid belt: A moderately sized space station lay on the outskirts of what remained of the asteroid belt.  During the war all of the valuable minerals had been mined out of the asteroids but since most of them were in areas too dangerous to travel to, many had been left behind.  The station was a harbor to anyone who had a score to settle, a beer to drink, a story to tell, or to prove how good a pilot you were.  Jason's fighter blasted out of warp and landed inside the main bay.  All over the place were dozens of fighters of every size and shape imaginable.  Jason hopped out of his starfighter and set the defense mode to on.  Scavengers often inhabited the bays and one had to make sure they could leave the base.  Jason proceeded down some partially lighted corridors and entered into a bar.  The bar had creatures from all over the system and they were clustered around various tables.  Jason pulled out some shades and put them on before he sat on a stool.  A snake wandered over to him.

"What'll it be?" asked the bartender.

"The usual Tex.," said Jason.  Tex looked at the pilot.

"Jason is that you?" Tex asked.

"Yep," said Jason.

"I haven't seen you in years.  I heard you went legit," said Tex.

"I did.  I joined the CDF and have been living the high life.  However current situations have forced me to do something radical.  Tell me Tex, who are the three best pilots here?" asked Jason.  Tex pointed out three pilots.

"Felicia Monroe (cat), Gary Lombardi (bird), and Bunny Hare (rabbit)," said Tex.  The three of them were clustered around a single table.

"Any idea how I can get acquainted with them?" asked Jason.  Tex laughed.

"Out fly them on the gauntlet," said Tex.

"The gauntlet?  That's easy.  When I left I had the fastest time on that course," said Jason.

"Bunny and Gary beat you by three minutes and Felicity holds the track record and beat you by five minutes," said Tex.  Jason gulped down his drink nervously.

"Nothing a little practice can't fix," he said.

"Practices were outlawed a long time ago.  If you go you go cold turkey although for a pilot like you that shouldn't be a problem," said Tex.

"Do they take on challengers?" asked Jason.

"Yep but you might want to hurry because they just left," said Tex.  Jason spun around to see the pilots were gone.  Jason finished his drink and ran off to the bay.

"Put it on my tab," said Jason.

"I will.  Just like old times," said Tex remembering the good old days.

Jason ran and hopped into his fighter.  He slammed on the engines and the ship left the bay and zoomed towards a line of fighters.

"Okay rookies this if Felicia.  You want to prove you're good than race through the belt.  Kudos to the winner but if you hit something and are stranded than you'd better push your way home because we aren't coming back for you," said Felicia.  Jason stopped his fighter in line with the rest of them.  Some lights were hung over the fighters and they began blinking.  Jason made a few adjustments to his ship and then slammed on the engine when the lights blinked green.  A dozen fighters leapt forward into the belt.  Several immediately slammed into asteroids while the others peeled out on their own way through the belt.  Jason chose the route that had made him famous, the expert route.  He'd beaten people who had taken the easy route on it and hoped to do that again.  He noticed a trio of ships ahead of him.  Jason slammed on his engine at full speed and through some miracle of fate he caught up with the ships without hitting any asteroids.

"You're good pilot but everyone has beginners luck," said Felicia.

"I'm no beginner.  I've flown here before," said Jason.

"Well old man I've never seen you before so stand back and let the pros take this on," said Felicia.

"The only old person around here is you.  Now get out of my way!" exclaimed Jason.  Jason slammed on the accelerator and leapt ahead of the fighters.

"You're mine," said Felicia.  She took off in hot pursuit of Jason's fighter.  Jason swerved around a few asteroids and dove between the larger rocks.  Felicia's fighter appeared right behind his.

"You may have been good once but not now," she said.  Her fighter pulled alongside Jason's and the two of them jockeyed for position.  They then dove into the hollowed out center of an asteroid.

"Here's where you loose," said Felicia.  A large chunk of rock came loose from the tunnel and dropped towards them.  A panel opened on Felicia's fighter and it swallowed the chunk.  Jason watched as her engine power increased and her fighter pulled away from him.  Their two fighters zoomed out of the tunnel and emerged amidst a field of large asteroids.

"See you at the finish line loser," laughed Felicia.  Her fighter pulled away as Jason watched in desperation.

"_It can't end this way,_" Jason thought.  Jason took another look at his surroundings.  All he saw were large asteroids.  Jason took a closer look and saw a miniscule asteroid sling around a larger one and go rocketing off.

"_When in trouble, use the theory of a gravitational slingshot,_" thought Jason.  Jason pushed the fighters wings in as close as they would go and then slammed the engines to full burn.  His fighter zipped around one of the rocks and blasted after Felicia's fighter.

Felicia's fighter flew through past several more rocks and plunged onward towards the finish line.  Felicia hadn't noticed her opponent's fighter lately and started whistling for lack of anything to do.  Suddenly her collision alarm went off, as the opposing fighter appeared right above her head.

"You're better than I thought," she said.

"I do what I can," came the response.  The two fighters continued racing each other.  She then saw a small piece of rubble fly between the opposing fighters upper and lower wings and hit her ship.  Instantly her whole ship burst into flames as all of her systems shut down.  Felicia groaned as her whole fighter shut down.  The opposing fighter tilted on its side and zoomed off to the left.

"Well I said that no one would be coming back to help you.  I just hope my friends get here soon," said Felicia.  The oxygen count indicated that she had fifteen minutes of oxygen left.

"Then again maybe I don't have enough time for them to get here," she said.  Suddenly her whole ship rocked.  Felicia looked around confused when she saw the opposing fighter had attached to hers diagonally above.

"What're you doing?" asked Felicia over the barely functioning comm. system.

"Saving you.  Your friends won't make it here in time so it's up to me," said the pilot.

"I don't need your help," said Felicia.  The two fighters moved off.

"You don't have any choice," came the response.  Felicia watched as the pilot expertly maneuvered their two ships through the remaining course at incredible speeds.  Then the two fighters emerged from the course and headed to another station on the other side.

"Looks like you beat me by a hair," said the pilot.  Felicia checked her race timer and realized she'd beaten her old record by two minutes.

"_Wow, that pilot's really good,_" though Felicia.  The two fighters entered the bay and hers was set down with minutes to spare on her oxygen counter.  Felicia popped open her canopy and breathed in the stale air of the base, it had never tasted so good.  Her opponent's fighter cruised over nearby and landed.  The pilot began checking his craft for meteorite fragments.  When he finally finished checking his ship, he walked over to Felicia.  She had been discussing the events with Bunny and Gary who had just arrived.  The pilot took off his helmet and put his sunglasses into one of his pockets.  He then extended his hand to Felicia who shook it.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome.  The name's Jason McCloud," said Jason.  Bunny and Greg gulped and Felicia stared at him wide eyed.

"What?" Jason asked.

"You're Jason McCloud?" asked Felicia.

"Yep," responded Jason.  Felicia trembling shook his hand once more.

"You're the greatest pilot in existence," she said.

"No I'm average," he responded.

"You're the legendary pilot who actually succeeded in defeating expert mode on your first try," said Greg.

"Luck," said Jason.

"Not luck.  You beat some of the best pilots who took the easy course," said Bunny.  Jason chuckled.

"I see my reputation precedes me.  Yet all of you beat my time," said Jason.

"We beat your official recorded time, but no one's beaten you legendary time.  That's impossible but you just came close and that was with you carting me around," said Felicia.  Jason shrugged.

 "I may seem like the best thing to happen in your lives since the starfighter, but let me get this straight with all of you.  I'm not a god.  I'm only a fox and nothing more," said Jason.  The others shook their heads to clear their thoughts.

"You're absolutely right," said Gary.

"My team thanks you for helping me out," said Felicia.

"Do you have someplace private where we could talk because I have a proposition for all of you," said Jason.

"Sure, right this way," said Felicia leading the way out of the bay.

Katina: Alarms blared as a large object surrounded by several fighters emerged from warp.

"What's going on?" asked Tobias.

"Mantia has invaded Katina," said Powell grimly.  The screen showed Mantia blazing his way through the umbra defense system and moving on towards the planets surface accompanied by a six fighters.

"Fighters are being scrambled," said another general.  Tobias looked out the window as a wave of fighters emerged beneath them and flew off.

"This is John Grey arm all weapons and keep a cool head.  Mantia is not to be trifled with.  We need to hold him off long enough for the base to be evacuated.  I don't want any heroics understand?" asked John.  Murmurs of agreement emerged over the comm.  The fighters flew on until they saw Mantia burst through a cloud surrounded by six fighters.

"Lock and load," said John.  The fighters all aimed their weapons at the oncoming threat.

"Fire!" yelled John.  The laser bolts came flying right at the enemy, but the fighters peeled off and all of them hit Mantia who continued fly onward.

"Your puny attacks have failed!  Now meet your doom!" exclaimed Mantia.  Mantia's wing cannon emerged and fired on the fighter squad who broke apart.  Then the enemy fighters opened fire taking out three CFD fighters.

"Break up into your assigned groups and return fire," said John.  John fired a couple more blasts at Mantia before regrouping with his fleet.

"Sir what should we do?  Mantia's invulnerable," said a pilot.

"Then take out his support," said John blasting one of the Wolfen II fighters.  The fighter took the abuse and kept on flying.

"Right," responded the pilot.  Mantia skimmed the ground as a whole phalanx of landmasters appeared in front of it.  The Landmasters opened fire only to have the shockwave cause by Mantia flying right over them blow them to the side.  The tanks rumbled after the bio-weapon while opening fire on the Wolfen II's above.

CDF HQ: "We're at 78% evacuated.  Mantia will be here in minutes," said Powell.

"Deploy Project X2," said Tobias.  As Mantia appeared over the base, sections of the ground disappeared to reveal large laser cannons.

"Not Project X again," sighed Mantia.  However instead of bolts of energy, the cannons fired supersonic waves that slammed into Mantia forcing it away from the base.

"Impressive.  But not nearly enough to stop me," said Mantia.  Mantia began to force its way forward against the waves of energy.  A pair of fighters streaked overhead firing on the creature.  Mantia continued growling.

Battle: "Things aren't going so well.  These Wolfen II's are giving us trouble," said a pilot.  Three of the enemy craft had been shot down while John had lost six ships.  A Wolfen came down on John weapons firing when it exploded.

"What's going on?" asked John.  Four fighters flew overhead.

"Attention unknown craft, identify yourselves," said John.

"We're the new and improved Star Fox team," said someone.  The fighters flew overhead firing at the other Wolfen fighters who were no match for their weapons.

"Come on John let's ride," said a pilot.

"Jason?  Is that you?" asked John.

"Yep.  But enough chit chat, the CDF is depending on us," said Jason.  The fighters zoomed towards the base where Mantia was still fighting the energy waves.  Mantia fired its weapons and blasted one of the cannons causing the bio-weapon to slam into the base.

"Oh no," said John.  Mantia shook its head and got up.  The bio-weapon was about to slam into the base again when another gravity beam hit it sending the menace flying off.  Mantia looked at the situation and realized that it was turning against him.

"Let this be a lesson of my power.  Your weapons can do nothing to stop me," said the bio-weapon flying off with a single Wolfen craft following it.

"Just remember that you can't beat the Star Fox team," said Gary.  Mantia did an about face.

"I've done it before and I'll do it again," said the beast before fleeing the planet.  Everywhere cheers erupted as they had repulsed the bio-weapon.  The remaining fighters landed in the bay to the cheers of the people on the base.  Tobias ran to a platform in the bay.

"I think we owe this victory to the CDF and the Star Fox team!" exclaimed Tobias.  More cheers erupted as everyone was congratulated.  Parties and feasts abounded over their victory.  Deep in communications, a coded message was heard between the Wolfen and Mantia.

"Decode it," said the major in charge.

Mantia and the Wolfen leapt into warp with a smirk on his face.  Although he had lost six ships, he had down what he was ordered to do.

"_They'll receive a shock when they decode that message and they'll fall into our trap.  I hope the others are enjoying as much success as I am,_" thought the bio-weapon.

Aquas: A couple dozen fighters streaked towards the surface as five battlecruisers converged on the planet.

"You know your objectives.  Crack the dome," said Cook from the captured Crimson Elite cruiser Sulaco.  The fleet was composed of stolen ships and fighters from both the Crimson Elite and the Nuclear Knights.

"_I hope Mantia succeeded in his task,_" thought Cook.  Dozens of fighters streaked over the surface of the planet headed towards the bio-dome.  Several fighters streaked out of the dome heading for the opposing waves.

"Stay low and fast.  We can't afford to be sidetracked.  We finish our objective and pull out is that understood?" asked Greg in the lead fighter.  Affirmative replies came over the comm.  The Pride's fighters descended on them and blew up some of the fighters.

"Scatter but still try and make your way to the dome," said Greg.  The fighters swerved left and right while avoiding the shots from the enemy fighters.  The dome loomed in sight as the fighters continued their approach.  More fighters emerged from the dome and did their best to hold off the enemy fighters.

"Plow through," said Greg.  Dozens of laser blasts emerged from the Venomian wave of fighters.  They smashed through the fleet on their way to the dome and soon flew above it.  Several charges were dropped but they failed to crack open the dome.

"The dome is absorbing the laser shots," said Greg to Cook over the comm.  More fighters proceeded to open fire on the dome to no success.

"I don't think capital ship fire is going to help either," said Cook.

"What do we do?  It's too late to obtain any bio-weapons and Mantia should be in warp right now," said Cook.

"We might have to call this off," said Porpoise.

"No.  There has to another way," said Cook.

"Sir, something emerging from warp," said a technician.  Nothing happened.

"Where?" Cook asked.

"Directly over the dome," responded the technician.

Battle below: A gigantic flash of light occurred as something emerged from warp over the fighters.  The Pride pilots watched in horror as a massive Copperhead missile appeared and bored its way into the dome.  The missile exploded halfway in shattering the dome.  People on the surface began chocking as the air began to escape.

"Drop the X-7 now before it's too late!" exclaimed Greg.  Two large freighters appeared and dropped their deadly payload over the dome.

"Let's get the hell out of here," said Greg as more Copperheads appeared out of warp.  The Venomian fighters left the planet to discover one of their own cruisers exploding as a result of another Copperhead.

"Things aren't going to plan.  Prepare to enter warp.  We did what we intended to do, sort of.  Entering warp now," Cook said.  The fighters and cruisers entered warp as more missiles appeared.

Macbeth: Banquo watched a viewscreen in his castle that showed the missiles raining destruction down on Aquas.  The attacking force fled into warp.

"Run and tremble and above all else know that the Skull Riderz control the Lylat System and no allied factions can defeat them," said Banquo.  He then flicked a switch and the image showed the freighters dumping their payload.  Banquo contemplated what it was before giving up.

"It's not important.  However, it looks like the CE and the NK have joined forces against the RP.  Interesting," said Banquo.  Banquo sipped some juice before heading out to the military HQ.

Katina: Sir, the message has been decoded," said a technician.  He handed the paper to the major.  The major read it aloud.

"The mission has failed Mantia, let us return to the Razor's Pride and reorganize our strategies for more offensives against the CDF.  Oh no," said the major.  The major ran off to give the message to Tobias and the generals.

Siward, later in the day: The two groups reunited and cheered their operations.

"We may have lost some people, but overall the mission has succeeded," said Mantia.

"Everything is falling into place as we have foreseen it.  Soon the Lylat System will be ours," said Cook.  Dozens of cheers went up.

"This time the Lylat System will fall to the enemy!" exclaimed Mantia.


	4. The date is set

Due to the lack of reviews for my stories, I can only assume that my stories are no longer as popular as they once were.  I will occasionally write a Star Fox story or two, but I'm mostly going to write The Legend stories.

Siward: The council of war sat around the table again as they assessed the current situation.

"As much as we'd all like to celebrate over the events of the past twenty-four hours, we must keep a cool head.  Our campaign isn't over yet and we can't afford to become lax," said Mantia.

"Exactly.  Now we must discuss the events over the past day.  Greg?" asked Cook.  Greg stood up with a piece of paper in his hands.

"Now we all know that our battle against the Razors Pride was a success.  True we did loose twelve fighters and one warship, but we successfully convinced the Pride that the Crimson Elite and The Nuclear Knights have allied to destroy them.  Jake Whitacre issued a statement earlier today," said Greg.  Greg pressed a button and the large screen showed an image of a red wolf.

"My people we have been attacked!  The Elite and The Pride joined forces to destroy us and we can't sit by and do nothing.  We will retaliate.  Elite and Pride, prepare to pay!  And when we're done with them we're coming for you Skull Riderz!" exclaimed Jake.  The image shut off.

"Some bad news though, during our operation, another skirmish broke out between the Elite and The Knights.  Luckily Jake either didn't know about it or he assumed it was a ploy.  Either way, he's convinced about whom attacked his faction and he's no longer a threat," said Greg.  Porpoise cleared his throat.

"I'm thinking that dropping X-7 over the dome was probably a bad idea," he said.

"I concur but there's nothing we can do about it now," said Mantia.

"What about the Riderz?  They peppered the area with their missiles," a crewmember said.

"I don't think that we have anything to worry about them.  They don't know where we are so we should be fine," said Greg.

"Continue with your report," said Mantia.

"Okay.  Although they haven't admitted to anything, our spies in the CDF say that they genuinely believe that Mantia is part of the Pride.  We officially lost five Wolfen II's on that mission but the message transfer was successful," said Greg.

"Right.  Well that's what's new.  Does anyone have anything to bring to the floor?" asked Greg.

"I do.  When we were attacking Katina, we fell under attack by a new Star Fox team and the CDF seemed to rally behind them," said Mantia.  Several gasps of disbelief rang out among the members.

"Are you sure?  There hasn't been a Star Fox team since the war," said Cook.

"I assure you, they referred to themselves as the Star Fox team and their leader is a descendant of Fox McCloud," said Mantia.

"This is not good.  The Star Fox team was always the best of the best and they could inspire even the most moral less troops into action," said Cook.

"What do we do?" someone asked.

"The only thing we can do.  The Star Fox team had only one equal and that was the Star Wolf team," said Mantia.

"So we assign four of our best pilots to become them," said Cook.

"No.  We don't find anyone.  We clone the original team," said Mantia.  Murmurs emerged among the council.

"How?" Greg asked.

"Deep within the core of Venom, Andross had genetic samples of every member under his rule.  He also had cloning facilities to recreate those he lost.  Most of his army was composed of clones.  If we can access this facility, we should be able to clone the Star Wolf team.  This new Star Fox team will be no match for their incredible skill," said Mantia.

"It will be hard to conceal our approach to this facility and we won't be able to stay there very long," said Cook.

"That is why I alone will lead an attack against the Elite.  Ever so often I'll yell my allegiance to the Pride and that way they'll be enraged against them.  That should speed up the final confrontation," said Mantia.

"You sure this is worth the effort?" asked Porpoise.

"I'm certain of it.  If the Star Fox team continues to gain fame, they'll lead the CDF into impossible victories.  I should know because I speak from personal experience.  This is the right thing to allocate our resources to.  Besides, the information stored underneath the planet contains invaluable resources that we could use.  Ships, weapons, tactical information, the information of over five hundred years is secured down there and we must obtain it or risk annihilation," said Mantia.  Cook shrugged.

"Okay.  But I don't want to risk a lot of our men.  We'll have one Harlock-Class Frigate and six Invader III's accompanying it to the surface.  We're not going to engage any enemies.  We'll go in, get the information, genetic samples, cloning tanks, and get out.  Is that understood?  Mantia, you'll need to supply us with the information and the location of this drove of information," said Cook.  Mantia nodded.

"Alright prep the ships because we're leaving within the hour.  The sooner we're there and back the better," said Cook.  The table broke up yet again.

½ hour later: A Harlock frigate and six fighters emerged from the mountain and blasted away under the dark side of the moon.

Katina: A meeting between Tobias, the top brass, John, and The Star Fox team was underway on a lower level of the base since the top one had been demolished when Mantia slammed into it.  Outside of the base, repairs were underway to fix the damaged cannon.

"Things haven't been going so well lately," said Tobias.  He clicked a remote and a small screen showed more confrontations between the Elite and Knights and how in one skirmish the Pride had gotten involved.

"The Pride have grown increasingly agitated and Jake Whitacre has gone from pacifist to warlord in a matter of a few months.  Another image sprang up of Mantia attacking the Katina base and the bio-weapon and the Wolfen II fighter escaping.

"A communiqué was transmitted between the fighter and it indicated that they were going to return to the pride and regroup.  We can't confirm this report, but then again the Pride hasn't used the creature in their attacks.  It's all very strange," said Powell.

"What do we do?" asked Jason.  The generals looked at each other nervously.

"I'm afraid it looks like we're going to see a war so great it will be just like the when the whole system went to war on itself a couple hundred years ago.  Except this time the entire system will be destroyed and there will be nothing left.  We have to make sure that this doesn't happen.  We can't allow the Lylat System to be destroyed!" exclaimed Tobias.

"Agreed but how?" asked Felicia.  Tobias walked over to a file cabinet and pulled out a large dossier.  He then placed the dossier on the table.

"This is absolutely everything we could get on Mantia.  It was designed by Andross to be most ultimate weapon ever created.  It has grown stronger every time it has reappeared in the Lylat System and this time it's more powerful than ever.  Some say the Lylat System died the day that thing was 'born' and I'm not one to disagree with them.  It led Andross to create more bio-weapons and ravage the Lylat System and most likely frightened Pigma Dengar into joining Andross and turning on his team.  When it reappeared it destroyed even more of the Lylat System and the only way it was gotten rid of was by the destruction of the nebula inside Sector Z.  The particles from the nebula are what destroyed most of the crops on all the planets and led to the system wide war.  Everything that bio-weapons done has been leading us to the brink of annihilation and it has returned yet again to complete its task.  There is no stopping it this time, not without the destruction of the entire system.  We are all doomed and there is no escaping our fate this time," said Tobias.  Everyone shuddered.

"Why does it keep attacking us?  Why hasn't it given up after failing so many times?" asked Bunny.

"That's a question we'll never have the answer to and I'm afraid what the answer will be," said Powell.

"That still leaves the question, what do we do?" asked Gary.

"Star Fox team, you need a capital ship don't you?  After all, every Star Fox team had their Great Fox.  Well I think I've found one for you.  According to the files, a Saruzin-Class warship was built a long time ago in order to face the evil bio-weapon called _The Hammer_.  That ship was hidden in the nebula in Sector Y.  If you can locate and find it then it's yours.  Good luck," said Tobias.  Tobias gave them the files regarding the ship.

"Okay.  Now remember, as the Star Fox team we will expect to be compensated for any enemies shot down," said Jason.  Tobias just nodded.

"Payment on delivery.  You keep track of your own kills and we'll pay you accordingly.  Now go and find that ship because we need to ready ourselves for the battle ahead," said Tobias.  The team left and blasted off while everyone else began upgrading all of the ships in the base.

Venom: Mantia burst out of warp and headed for the planets surface.  The bio-weapon smashed through several cruisers on the way down and emerged over the capitol city of Venomia.  Everywhere in town sirens blared as the population awoke to a massive creature attacking their city.

"Die people of Venom!  Die!" exclaimed Mantia.  Mantia's wing cannons emerged and opened fire on the civilians below.  Hundreds of civilians were mowed down as Mantia fired at them without remorse.  Mantia burst out laughing when suddenly two Elite fighters opened fire on him.

"Such a pitiful response time," said Mantia chasing after them.  Mantia flew after the fighters as they twisted and turned through the tall buildings.

"You can't escape me," the creature said.  Then the two fighters faked him out as they first went left and zoomed to the left.  Mantia was maneuverable, but not as maneuverable as a fighter and he zoomed towards a tall building.

"Oh shit," said Mantia.  Then Mantia slammed into the building and it collapsed on the creature.  The two fighters streaked over the collapsed building.  The rubble exploded as Mantia zoomed skyward and slammed into the two fighters causing them to explode.

"Mess with best, die like the rest.  The Pride will rule you all!" exclaimed Mantia.  Mantia watched a large blob fly towards him composed of thousands of Elite fighters.

"Now the real fun begins," said Mantia.  Mantia rushed the fighters and cut through the thick of them.

"_Hurry up team 2,_" thought Mantia.

Macbeth: "Sir, sir, I think you should see this," said an aide trying to rouse Banquo.  The lizard woke up and yawned, and gave a cold stare to the aide.

"I said to NOT be disturbed under any circumstances.  This had better be good," said Banquo.

"I think it is sir," said the aide.  The aide turned on the T.V. to the 24-hour news channel.

"I hate this channel!  I thought I got rid of it once and for all," said Banquo.  The image sprang up showing Mantia attacking Venomia.  Banquo watched the screen with interest at the unfolding events.

"I want their funding increased.  This is quality programming," said the lizard.  Banquo pushed a button next to his bed and some steaming popcorn came out.  Banquo started eating it as he thoroughly enjoyed Mantia's attack on his enemies.

Castle overlooking Venomia: Stronghold watched as Mantia battled it out with the fighters.  Stronghold just watched in horror as the bio-weapon took the abuse and continued to fire back using all of its weaponry.

"I want all defensive platforms to lock onto this creature.  I want this creature moved to a nearby open space and obliterated by our orbital defensives," said Stronghold talking to his aide.

"Sir watch out!" exclaimed his bodyguard who tackled Stronghold to the floor.  Mantia came rushing right at them at incredible speeds.  The bio-weapon slammed through the building and flew off.  Stronghold watched as the whole castle started to break to pieces.  His bodyguard pushed Stronghold and the aide into a nearby speeder and it took off.  Stronghold watched behind him as the whole castle collapsed.

"You'll pay for that!  I want every fighter on that thing now!" exclaimed Stronghold.

"Sir what is that thing?" asked the aide terrified.  Mantia flew into a parallel position next to the speeder so the occupants could view the creature and its bristling weaponry.

"My name is Mantia and your day has ended," said the creature before flying off.

Dark side of Venom: A warship accompanied by six fighters streaked past the dormant defenses and towards the surface.

"I hope Mantia's doing okay," said Cook.  The cruiser and escort flew over a barren piece of desert before stopping over a large piece of sand.  The cruiser landed on the ground as the fighters took up defensive positions flying overhead.  Cook and a small team of mice and ferret commandos exited the ship.

"Let's move before a sandstorm comes up," said Cook.  The team entered an A.P.C. and drove off.  They drove for about fifteen minutes before stopping at a single recessed panel in the ground.  Cook hopped out and brushed off a panel next to the door.  Cook punched in several buttons and the door opened.  Cook went inside and entered an underground room full of panels and buttons.  Cook pressed some of them and exited the underground room to see a large portion of the ground retract to reveal a downward sloping ramp.  Cook closed the door and entered into the A.P.C. as it drove off and down the ramp.  The vehicle passed several checkpoints before arriving in a large area.  The commandos exited the vehicle and spread out.  Cook activated a comm. system inside the A.P.C.

"Try and find the datacore and the cloning tanks.  Then bring them back to the A.P.C.," said Cook.  The commandos spread out and several minutes later they located their objectives.

"We've found the core.  It's the size of a small suitcase," said a commando.  Cook flipped through several pages of information Mantia had given him.

"That checks out.  Andross managed to fit incredible amounts of data into a small space.  Bring it back," said Cook.

"Sir, this is Sanders down at the tanks.  It appears that Andross beat us to the punch.  The Star Wolf team is already in them although they're in stasis.  I guess the tanks served more purpose than one," said the soldier.  Cook flipped through several more pages of data.

"Don't worry about it.  There should be a cart nearby.  Put the tanks and their control systems on it and get them back here.  Try and obtain all the memory cards, reeducation systems, and all genetic samples.  We've got five minutes until our undercover agents sleeper code on the defense systems wears off and they can detect us," said Cook.

"Fine but when the other soldiers bring back the core, could you have them help us," said Sanders.

"Right," said Cook.  Three minutes later the troops loaded the core aboard.

"Go and help the others," said Cook.  With thirty seconds left, the troops appeared in the main chamber with the gear.

"Quickly, quickly," said Cook.  The gear was loaded and the vehicle took off back towards the ship.  When they got there, it was already under attack.

"Crap.  Keep driving, we've got to make it the ship," said Cook.  The vehicle drove on as explosions lit up the nighttime sky.  The A.P.C. entered into the ship as a large explosion went off nearby.

"Go, go, go!" exclaimed Cook to the bridge.  The ship took off and leapt into the sky as the escort continued to hold off the fighters.  One of their fighters exploded as more fighters appeared.

"We've got to keep this ship safe," Cook said.  Missiles launched from the cruiser and peppered the sky.  The enemy fighters scattered as multiple explosions went off.  The cruiser burst free of the planet and found itself under attack by the umbras.

"Oh no," said Cook.  The shields began failing as the umbras kept blasting at them.  Just when it seemed they were doomed, Mantia streaked by under attack by several thousand fighters.  Mantia, despite its own predicament, used its electric tail to short out the attacking umbras.  The ship continued forward with its current five-fighter escort and plunged into warp.  Mantia watched it leave and grinned.  Mantia then dove back down to the planets surface and made a quick run against Venomia and blew up several more buildings before fleeing into warp headed for Aquas.  On the surface, Stronghold watched Mantia's retreat from the military building.

"The Pride will pay," he said growling.

Sector Y: The four fighters pushed through the nebula desperately searching for _The Hammer_.

"This is hopeless!  We can't see anything," complained Gary.

"We'll find it, don't worry," said Jason.  The four fighters continued penetrating the thick cloud.  After another hour of searching, Jason had had enough.

"Alright, I think we're done.  I guess we'll have to find ourselves a different way of finding a base of operations," said Jason.  However, just as they were prepared to leave, a large black blob appeared in front of them.

"Move in carefully," said Jason.  The four fighters moved towards the blob and found themselves face to face with the Saruzin Class warship.

"I guess that's it," said Felicia.  The four fighters made several sweeping scans of the ship and looked at the bristling weaponry.  They finally stopped before a faded insignia on the ship, which read: _The Hammer_.

"It's a tribute to who we once were," said Jason.  The four pilots realized that they were looking at a ship built during the days of peace in the Lylat System, a peace they knew would never return.

"Let's find the fighter bay," said Jason breaking the silence.  The four fighters located the bay and landed inside.  Dust covered everything in the bay, from cranes and bombs, to fighters, and offline robots.  They moved towards the bridge and passed through several darkened corridors before arriving on the bridge.  On the bridge, a figure sat in the main chair.

"Get down!" exclaimed Bunny reaching for her gun.  She aimed it at the figure, but when it didn't move, she put it down.  Jason walked to the figure and poked it.

"It's metal," he said.  Gary walked over and looked at it and gasped in shock.

"What?" Felicia demanded.  Gary brushed the dust off the figure.

"It's an old Rob unit.  I thought they were all gone.  I never dreamed I'd see one in person," he said.  A blinking light was located on the robots head.

"Press it," said Jason pushing dust off some nearby panels.  Gary pressed the button and the Rob unit powered up.

"RobGCN, built by Nintendo Robotics Inc., Tokyo, Macbeth.  Creator: Shigeru Miyamoto.  All systems on-line and at full strength, who are you?" asked the robot.  Jason stepped forward.

"I'm Jason McCloud, I'm a descendant of Fox McCloud.  It's been awhile since you were placed here.  We've reactivated you because Mantia has returned to The Lylat System and you designed to combat it," said Jason.  Rob looked around the bridge and noted the amount of dust.  Then a noise was heard as something emerged from the ship.  The team watched as a bright light streaked away from the ship.

"What's that for?" asked Jason.  Rob looked at him.

"A probe designed to determine the exact temporal location of this unit," Rob said.  A few minutes later, a screen activated on the wall.  Rob looked at the information being processed.

"Approximately 485 years since placed inside the nebula.  Sensors indicate large bio-weapon leaving Venom.  Your information appears accurate.  Please surrender a genetic sample to determine identification," said Rob.  A robot appeared with a needle and syringe.  Jason took the needle and drew some blood from himself.  He then gave the needle back to the robot, which then processed the results.  When it was done it turned to face Rob.

"Genetic sample reveals a distant linkage to Fox McCloud.  Access granted," said the robot lumbering off.  Rob turned to face them.

"Welcome to The Cornerian Defense Force vessel _The Hammer_ which was named after the great general turned warlord, Hammer.  Please indicate the current political status," said Rob.  More screens turned on as the whole ship powered up.

"Since you've been dormant, The Lylat System went to war and was divided into several factions.  We are the new Star Fox team and we're currently being employed by what remains of The Cornerian Defense System under the direction of Tobias Airbas.  We need your help because Mantia has returned and The Lylat System is already at war with itself and now is the perfect opportunity for Mantia to succeed in its task," said Jason.  The robot processed this information.

"Where is the current location of the CDF?" asked Rob.

"Katina," responded Felicia.  The ship started moving.

"What's going on?" Bunny demanded.

"We are currently moving towards CDF HQ where your story can be confirmed by the current member of the CDF.  The current leader should possess the access code for this ship.  If the president is not in possession, this ship will self-destruct so it will not fall into enemy hands," said Rob.

"Wait!  What about Mantia?" Gary asked.  Rob turned to face him.

"Mantia is a secondary priority.  If the CDF has been destroyed than Mantia should be allowed to rule the Lylat System for its current rulers are no longer competent to rule it.  This is directive 47 of the Mantia Defense Force plan," said Rob.  Then the doors to the bridge opened and a dozen robots walked in with blasters pointed at the Star Fox team.

"You will find a seat and make yourself comfortable.  Directive 56 states that any person not on file will have to be detained until their proper identification can be confirmed," said Rob.

"Then why'd you take my genetic sample?" asked Jason angrily.  Rob turned to face him.

"Just because you're identity has been confirmed does not mean that you are the same as your ancestor.  Once your true mission has been located you like your friends are under my care.  I'm not cruel and I'm just protecting this ship, which is why I've allowed you to stay on the bridge and not in the prison cells.  Have a nice trip," said Rob turning his attention to flying the ship.

"That could've gone better," said Gary as the group took their seats.

"I hope that Tobias has those codes or we're in trouble," said Bunny.  The ship exited the nebula and entered into warp.

Katina: "It's happened," said Powell.  He and the generals were with Tobias back on the repaired upper floor meeting room.  An image sprang up revealing Jake Whitacre.

"It appears that we've had a large conflict of interest of late and I propose this to the other factions.  We need a single ruling party for this system and there's only one way to prove it.  We will accompany all of our battlefleets to Solar and we will battle it out until a winner emerges.  The winner and their faction will have supreme control of the Lylat System for now and for all time.  If you don't send your ships, my faction will personally obliterate your miserable planet.  The war begins in six hours.  Send your ships now," said Jake.  Another image showed his fleet above Solar and then the image flicked to show Elite and Pride fleets headed for Solar also.

"What do we do?" asked a general.

"We have no choice.  We will send our fleet to Solar and battle the other factions.  If we win then this whole war will be over and if we loose than we weren't right to lead the people," said Tobias calmly.

"The war for The Lylat System has begun," said Powell.

Siward: Mantia, the council of war, and the Star Wolf team sat around the central table watching the buildup of ships above Solar.

"Excellent.  Once they blow each other to bits, we'll sweep in and conquer them all!" exclaimed Cook.  Mantia looked at him

"The Lylat System is ours!" exclaimed the bio-weapon.


	5. The End of The Road for the Lylat System

Solar: Hundreds of fighters and warships whizzed by over the sun as the various factions amassed their fleets in preparation for a massive onslaught.

"I guess this is it," said Tobias looking out at the various enemy fleets all clustered around the sun.  Powell nodded.

"The war to end all wars.  The war that will decide the fate of the Lylat System," he said.  A communiqué came across the comm. system.

"This is Jake.  What we do here will decide the fate of the entire system.  It's winner take all in a no holds barred match.  When your last vehicle has been destroyed you obviously loose the chance to lead.  Go," said Jake.  Dozens of fighters all streamed towards each other as dozens of explosions rocked the area of space.

"Move us in.  I'm going to my fighter," said Tobias.

"Sir you can't.  We need you to lead us," said Powell.  Tobias looked at him and then pointed out to the various fighters attacking each other.

"Our people are out there making decisions that will decide their fate.  I won't stand by and do nothing but make my decisions out here.  Decisions should be made by those fighting the battle not by those observing it.  I'm leaving," said Tobias.  Tobias marched defiantly out of the bridge and went to the hanger.  He hopped inside his fighter and blasted off.  He quickly fell in line with a wave of fighter craft.

"Alright folks this is Tobias.  I'm leading you into battle.  Follow my lead and do what I tell you and we might just survive this turn of events," said Tobias.  The other CDF squads formed on him and they zoomed forward towards the large battle in front of them.

"Alright split up.  Attack from different sides and weed out the weaklings.  Any stragglers must be dispatched before they regroup.  Let's hit them hard and fast," said Tobias.  The fighter squads peeled off into different direction as Tobias and his three-fighter accompaniment zoomed straight into the middle opening fire.

"Form into a diamond," said Tobias.  The fighters moved to their appropriate positions but one of them exploded under enemy fire and the remaining fighters made an odd triangle.  Tobias then snapped his ship through several tight rolls while firing his lasers a few fighters exploded but more kept on coming.

"This is getting hopeless," said a pilot.  Another fighter in the group exploded from weapons fire.  Two CDF fighters rushed in to take the places of those already gone.

"Intel report," said Tobias.  Another fighter took up a flanking position.

"Current projections.  35 fighters gone, 375 left.  1 warship lost, Zeram Class.  112 warships remaining," said Intel.

"Okay, you're free to go," said Tobias.  The fighter peeled off and away while firing on enemy fighters.  A large shadow fell on the fighters.  Tobias looked up.

"Oh shit," he said.  A massive battlecruiser was on fire and spinning out of control towards them.

"Scatter!" yelled Tobias.  The four fighters split up as the battlecruiser zoomed by and exploded flinging debris everywhere.

"This is not good," said John.  John had pulled his fighter squad alongside Tobias and his accompaniments.

"Yeah.  Where the hell is Jason?" demanded Tobias.  Another massive explosion went off and an enemy cruiser slowly started sinking towards Solar.

"I don't know.  Orders?" asked John.  Tobias consulted his radar.

"Follow your own instincts and go on the offensive.  Take Husky and Bulldog units into the fray.  I'll try and do my best to defend the fleet," Tobias responded.

"Right," responded John.  His squad burst forward into the thick of the fighting.  Tobias sighed and pulled his squad around to regroup with the fleet.

"_Where are you Jason?_" he thought.

Corneria: With small explosions dotting Solar in the background, _The Hammer_ exited from warp.

"What're we doing here?" demanded Gary.  Rob turned in his chair to face him.

"We need some files from the Corneria Army HQ," said Rob.  Jason shrugged.

"I don't think you'll find them.  Most of the files were destroyed during the war.  The rest are on Katina," he said.

"Not these files.  Prepare to enter the planet's atmosphere," said Rob.  The ship zoomed down into the atmosphere of Corneria.  They flew over the destroyed Alpha City.

"A shame," said Rob.

"Yeah," responded Jason.  The ship then moved past it.

"Hey?  Where're we going?" asked Bunny.

"There," said Rob pointing towards the viewscreen.  The shattered remains of Coastal City loomed ahead of them.  The cruiser landed just outside city limits.  Rob stood up and motioned for them to accompany him.

"Why should we go with you?" asked Felicia.  Rob turned to face them.

"There are things you must know before your fate has been decided," he said.  Several robotic guards pointed their blasters at them.

"Fine.  Let's go team," said Jason.  The four of them accompanied Rob into the turbolift and it descended to the lowest level.  They then marched out into the soaring heat and walked across the sand towards the city.  A few feet behind them, a small group of robots with blasters pointed at them walked towards the city as well.

"You know that at one time this was a lush and fertile area.  Not the desert it is now," said Rob.  Gary walked close to Jason.

"What're we going to do?" he asked softly.

"I'd don't know but I'll come up with something.  I don't intend for the Star Fox team to die so early in its infancy.  Just wait for now," Jason responded.  Gary nodded and backed off.  Jason then looked up at the ghost city and sighed shaking his head.

Siward: Mantia, Cook, and various others were clustered in the main bay watching the battle via a viewscreen.  They watched as thousands of explosions rocked the area.

"Beautiful," commented Cook.

"Yep," said Mantia shedding a tear.  Cook looked up at him.

"What's wrong?  You don't feel sorry for those pilots do you?" Cook asked.  Mantia looked at him.

"What?  No of course not.  It's just that conquering the Lylat System was always a dream, an unachievable goal.  But now it's looking more and more likely to come true," said Mantia.  Cook nodded.

"Why do you do it?" asked Porpoise.

"Do what?" asked Mantia.

"Forgive me for I don't mean to be rude, but why do you continue to try and conquer the Lylat System despite the odds.  Only Andross has ever tried to conquer the Lylat System with such obsession," said Porpoise.

"Perhaps its because we're practically one in the same," responded Mantia.  Cook looked at him confused.

"I don't understand," he said.  Mantia eyed him.

"It's very simple to explain actually.  Back when I was first created, Andross knew that there was no way that any creature beside himself would ever want to continually try and conquer the Lylat System after defeat.  Thus there was only one solution available to him.  Andross injected some of his brain tissue into my own.  It drastically increased my intelligence and made me want to conquer the Lylat System as much as he did," responded the bio-weapon.  Cook considered this.

"Does that mean that you don't have any choice but to constantly attempt to conquer the system?  What if you want to do something else?" he asked.  Mantia shrugged.

"Do what?  There's nothing that something like me can do besides try and conquer the Lylat System.  I don't really mind, it gives me a sense of purpose in the universe," said Mantia.  Cook shrugged.

"Whatever suits you," he responded.  They watched as another explosion went off on the videoscreen.

Battle: "Scatter!" yelled Tobias.  His four-fighter squad broke apart as a flaming warship came rushing right at them.  The warship slammed into another one and they both exploded flinging debris everywhere.  John's group was far ahead valiantly fighting despite the odds.  However even they weren't impervious to the destruction around them and 1/3 of his squad's fighters were gone.  Tobias was about to turn around when several laser blasts struck his ship he barely managed to avoid the rest and then he saw an object go rocketing away from his ship.  Tobias quickly consulted his damage readout.

"Oh no," he said.  The fighter was blasted away by John who had come to help out.

"What?" John asked.

"I just lost my G-Diffuser," Tobias responded.

"So?  Go get it fixed," said John.

"I can't.  That cruiser that just exploded was our main repair ship.  The others can't possibly cope with the influx of damaged fighters and deal with mine in a timely manner.  Besides, if I go down, I want to go down fighting," said Tobias.

"Right," said John.  Suddenly several laser blasts flew right at them and John's ship exploded.

"Nooo!" exclaimed Tobias.  A fighter rocketed by him.

"Tobias, you're all mine," said Jake Whitacre.  Tobias growled.

"You just killed one of my best pilots.  You won't survive this!" he yelled in anger.  He fired at Jake only to have his blasts go flying off because of Jake's G-Diffuser.  Jake spun his fighter around and fired on Tobias who jerked his fighter out of the way and did his best to spin through the large wreckage resulting from the space battle.

"What's wrong?  After all, a G-Diffuser a day keeps the lasers away.  Oh that's right.  You lost yours.  Well too bad.  Bwahahaha!" laughed Jake chasing after him.  His fighter fired constantly although his aim was constantly off.  Tobias swerved left and right and did his best to avoid the shots although some hit his shields.

"_I must escape.  I cannot fall to the enemy,_" thought Tobias.  He then saw his opening.  Tobias slammed his engines for all they were worth and zoomed through the center of a warship hulk.  He then stopped his ship and shut down all power to his ship.  Jake's fighter appeared slowly out of the warship.

"Come now Tobias this isn't you.  You don't hide from a fight.  Don't worry, I'll find you soon enough," said Jake easing his fighter forward.  He slowly coasted over Tobias' jet-black fighter and was right in front of it when Tobias quickly powered up his fighter.

"This is for John!" yelled Tobias.  He fired a bomb at Jake's fighter and it exploded.  The shockwave also flung Tobias' fighter away.  Sparks flew and panels went dark and exploded as a result of the impact.  Tobias' fighter then shut down as a result of the damage.  Tobias sighed in the darkness waiting for the end to come.  In front of him he watched the battle continue to rage as all sides continued to press on.  The Tobias fighter was hit with a tractor beam and it was drawn into a warships hold.  Tobias opened his canopy manually and hopped out onto the floor.  He saw a dozen soldiers aiming their weapons at him.  In the center of them was a tiger.

"Tobias Airbas you are now a prisoner of the Crimson Elite," said Lord Stronghold.  Tobias was handcuffed and escorted off the deck to the prison holds.

"Destroy this thing," said Stronghold pointing to Tobias' fighter.  The tractor beam reactivated and pushed the ship back out into space where it was promptly destroyed.

"Let us return to the battle and show off our new trophy," said Stronghold to the bridge via comlink.  The ship moved forward to the large battle in front of them as another explosion rocked the area.

Coastal City: Rob pushed aside a large piece of rubble and he and the team emerged into a desolated main street that was full of dust.  On each side of the street were buildings with windows blown out, metal creaking, and completely desolate.  Rob looked around and picked up a sheet of metal partially buried beneath the dirt.

"Coastal City.  The city of the future for next million years we guarantee it," said Rob reading the sign.  He sighed.  Jason placed his hand on Rob's right shoulder.

"They didn't have a clue did they?" he asked.  Rob shook his head.

"No they didn't," he responded clearly sad.  Jason noted that if he could have, Rob most certainly would have burst into tears.

"Let's get moving," he said resiliently.  He walked forward with the team towards a large building in the distance.  Halfway there he turned to their robot accompaniment.

"Go.  You're no longer needed here.  Return to the ship," said Rob.  The robots nodded and trudged off.  Felicia looked at Rob curiously.

"Why did you do that?  You know that we could destroy you here and now," she said.  Rob nodded.

"I do but I trust that you won't.  I'm sorry that I have to regard you as criminals, but I'm bound to my programming and can't free myself from it.  Come on.  I have to show to obtain the information and present you with a conflict," said Rob.  They continued walking towards a large castle.  They walked across a rusted over drawbridge and entered the castle.

"This at one time was the residence of all presidents after Mantia's second attack on the Lylat System.  Mantia had severally destroyed the Corneria City and the government had to be moved temporarily to a new city.  However Mr. President loved Coastal City so much that it became the permanent location of the government of the Lylat System," said Rob.  They proceeded to an elevator.

"There's no way this thing will ever work," said Gary.  Rob pushed a button next to the elevator and the doors opened.

"I stand corrected," said Gary with his eyes wide open.  They entered into the elevator and it descended to the lowest floor.

"Wouldn't someone of else have used this elevator?" asked Bunny.

"Maybe, but they wouldn't know any of the access codes to gain entrance to the lower levels.  The elevator stopped and the doors opened.  Rob proceeded forward and activated a nearby panel.  He typed in the access code and then produced a vial of blood.

"Hey.  That's mine," said Jason.  Rob slid it in and pushed a few more keys.  A light on the console changed from green to red.  Rob motioned for them to follow.  The team caught up with him.

"Shouldn't the light have changed the other way?" asked Felicia.  Rob looked at her.

"No.  It was designed to give infiltrators a sense of superiority that the system had been left off.  Be warned though.  The following area may stink of rotting flesh," said Rob.  They proceed down a couple of hallways when the smell hit them.  Then all close their noses and still the stench wafted into them.

"It's awful," said Bunny.  They turned another corner and the sight they saw caused them to nearly vomit.  Piled everywhere were dozens of rotted corpses.  The corpses flesh had been burned away by some unforeseen force and somehow flies had gotten into the level and begun eating the flesh.

"Horrible.  How can you do this to people?" demanded Jason.

"What's done is done.  They knew the risks coming in.  Just ignore them and follow me," said Rob stepping over the corpses without a second thought.  The team meanwhile just leapt over the pile of corpses.  They then followed the robot into a room with a projector and a movie screen.  Jason closed the door as to stop the stench but it didn't help because the room had been thoroughly saturated with it.  Rob activated a fan and the stench fell to a more tolerable level.

"What I'm about to show you may make you loose all faith in civilization but you must be told the truth.  It was one of my objectives that far into the future someone must know the truth," said Rob.  He activated the projector.  A sixty-year old President/Gen. Pepper showed up on the screen.

"If you're watching this than it means you've found _The Hammer_ and Mantia has indeed returned to the Lylat System.  I know you're probably expecting me to instill you with some confidence to defeat the beast, but I can't.  There's a dark secret that a select few in the CDF have known for years, a horrible secret.  It all begins a long time ago, about a 120 years before the Lylat Wars," said Pepper.  The screen switched to show a large blue rectangular device standing lengthwise in the center of a room.  A large table was in front of the room and around it where seated several generals, the president, and a strange alien that none of them had ever seen before.  The creature was giving a lengthy speech although there was no sound and the whole image was in black and white.  The creature finally displayed a drawing.  The image stopped and it showed a large manta ray drawn on it along with the large word written beneath it.  The word read: Mantia.

"It isn't possible," said Jason.

"It is," said Rob.  The image reverted back to Pepper.

"The creature you see is of a species unknown to any of us.  But that's not important.  What's important is that this creature detailed everything that would happen for the next few hundred years.  The worst part of it was that up to this point it is still true.  Everything that creature said would happen has happened.  The horrendous part is that we've known of Mantia's existence since long before it was created and we've failed to do anything about it.  The alien said that if Mantia doesn't conquer the Lylat System, he would eventually destroy it.  I know you don't want to believe it, but it's true.  If Mantia isn't allowed to conquer the Lylat System, the system and everyone in it will be totally and utterly destroyed.  I wasn't aware of this until I became president and now that I know, I'm afraid of the truth.  If Mantia ever returns to the Lylat System, you must allow him to conquer it.  I've resigned myself to this fate when I learned all of the truth and you should to.  Mantia must succeed in enslaving us all so that we may live another day.  Do this, I beg of you.  You can't escape your fate.  Mantia must win or else we'll all die," said Pepper.  Jason growled angrily.

"NEVER!" he yelled.  He grabbed a blaster from Rob's belt and fired angrily at the image.  He then sat down in a chair angrily.  Felicia's face was of utter shock.

"I can't believe it.  All these years they've known and they didn't do a thing to stop it," she said in fear.

"I've never felt more helpless in my entire life," said Bunny leaning against a wall shivering.  Gary didn't know what to think.  Jason slammed his fist against the wall.

"I'm not giving up.  Mantia can be defeated and the Lylat System will be saved.  I'd rather die than live under his fate.  Let's go," he said storming away angrily.  Rob and the others followed him out of the room.  They then got back to the ship and it blasted away from the planet.

Siward: "I think they've nearly destroyed themselves by now.  Let's move out," said Mantia.  He then flew out of the bay accompanied by twelve cruisers and the one heavy freighter that was Capt. Cook's.  They flew out of the bay and out into space.  From there they entered warp headed for Solar.

Solar: "Looks like The Nuke Knights won," said Stronghold.  Every fighter from the opposing factions had been destroyed and every heavy cruiser despite Capt. Snow's was disabled.  Snow had three cruisers, and twelve fighters left.

"Well.  Looks like I've won complete control of the Lylat System once and for all.  I hope you won't mind if I begin mercilessly destroying your fleets now.  I don't want slave who'll resist me," said Snow.  He had blasted two heavy cruisers into dust when suddenly Mantia and his fleet appeared from nowhere.  Mantia destroyed two of Snow's heavy cruisers and disabled the third, which currently held Snow.  The Star Wolf team meanwhile proceeded to chop up the remaining fighters.  Mantia projected his image onto every remaining cruiser.

"Behold your true masters and masters of the Lylat System," said Mantia laughing.  The remaining factions remained helpless as Mantia and his fleet remained helpless as Mantia and his fleet proceeded to carve up the cruisers engines.

"I've finally won," said Mantia.

Katina: _The Hammer_ emerged from warp above the planet.

"Attention Tobias, are you there?" asked Jason.  An image sprang up of an automated response system.

"Everyone is currently in hiding due to a massive battle for control of the Lylat System.  If you wish to risk your lives to locate him just proceed to Solar," said the voice.

"Sounds like something big is going down," said Greg.

"Agreed, but I don't think it's good," said Rob.  _The Hammer_ reentered warp.

Solar: Mantia made several flights around the cruiser waiting for their response to his ultimatum ordering for their surrender or destruction.  The responses had gone both ways and he was waiting only for the response of Stronghold.  Finally the comlink activated.

"I'd rather die than ever serve under you," said Stronghold.

"Then that's the way it has to be," said Mantia.  A split second before Mantia fired, _The Hammer_ emerged from warp.  Mantia looked at it with feigned interest and then fired on Strongholds ship.  It exploded flinging debris everywhere.

"The CDF is gone.  They've all been obliterated," said Bunny.

"Then that means," began Jason.

"Yes.  This ship must be destroyed.  I'm activating the self-destruct system for fifteen minutes.  Get out while you still can," said Rob.  Mantia loomed in front of the ship.

"Mantia's right there.  Can you do nothing?" asked Gary.

"Nothing.  My programming forbids it," said Rob.

"Then I hope you can live with the choice of condemning the whole system to Mantia's rule," said Gary leaving.  A few minutes later the Star Fox team shot out away from the ship.

"Let's do what we can to stop Mantia," said Jason.  The team was about to open fire when several Wolfen II's blocked their path.

"What the?" began Jason.

"Say hello to the original Star Wolf team Star Fox team.  Mantia cloned us to deal with you and I've been looking forward to this for a long time," said Wolf.  The Star Fox team split up and their counterparts pursued them from the Star Wolf team.  The teams swerved left and right and just barely succeeded in destroying them with three minutes left on the timer for _The Hammer_.  Inside Rob was combating his programming with his own.  Finally sparks exploded and consoles blew as Rob overcame his programming.

"DIE MANTIA!" yelled Rob.  He slammed on the engines to full burn before he shutdown.  _The Hammer_ slammed into Mantia and dragged the beast down towards the Solar.  Mantia tried to escape from its grip, but at the speed it was moving, it couldn't escape.  The ship plunged into the molten surface and finally emerged in the core as Mantia howled in pain.

"I may die.  But I won't go quietly.  IF I GO DOWN I'M TAKING THE LYLAT SYSTEM WITH ME!" yelled Mantia.  Mantia summoned his energy and activated the only offensive weapon Andross had given him, a massive thermonuclear bomb.  Mantia exploded in a thermonuclear explosion that detonated the core of Solar.  Outside, a massive energy wave emerged as Solar exploded.  The Star Fox team watched in despair as the wave came right at them.

"I don't believe it," said Jason in horror.

"What?" Felicia asked.

"The prediction was correct.  Mantia couldn't conquer the Lylat System and now he has destroyed the entire system.  After all these years and all his failures, he won," said Jason.  The energy wave hit their fighters and destroyed them.  The wave proceeded to blow every planet in the system into small chunks of rocks.  Everyone died and throughout the entire universe a star stopped shining.


End file.
